1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical staples for use in a surgical stapling instrument. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to surgical staples coated to enhance visibility of placement in tissue. The present disclosure further relates to a staple cartridge having internal illumination to enhance visibility of the cartridge's position in tissue and positioning of the internal components of the staple cartridge.
2. Background of Related Art
During certain surgical procedures various surgical stapling devices are used to apply one or more rows of staples to tissue and, in some cases, cut the tissue between the rows of staples. The visibility of the distal end of the stapling device used within the body of a patient is important to insure proper placement of the stapling device about tissue. The ability to visually monitor the distal end of the surgical stapling device is also useful to determine how much tissue has actually been stapled and/or how much of the tissue has actually been cut by the surgical stapling device.
The ability to visualize the distal end of the surgical stapling device is more difficult when the surgical stapling device is used endoscopically or laparoscopically. In these situations, the surgical stapling device is inserted into the body through a port in the body. The surgical operation is performed under visualization through an endoscope or laparoscope having a limited field of view. This may make it difficult to verify that the surgical stapling device has functioned properly and to evaluate the integrity of the staple line formed by the surgical stapling device.
The ability to evaluate the integrity of the staple line may be hindered by the use of conventional staples formed of stainless steel and/or titanium as these materials tend to reflect light back towards the lens in the endoscope or laparoscope obscuring a clear view of the staple line.
Thus, there is a need for a surgical stapling device having a distal end which can be more visible within the patient's body during use. There is also a need for a surgical fastener capable of being clearly visualized within the body without reflecting significant amounts of light back towards the viewing device.